DIY: Homebrewing With Brooklyn Brew Shop's Help

It seems I've landed in beertopia here in Brooklyn*. Lots of bars with lots of beers, and lots of people who take beer quite seriously. The Whole Foods in the Lower East Side in Manhattan has a monstrously large selection that can put specialty stores to shame.

So, with beer on the brain, I've taken the next step.

Making my own! A few weeks ago I went to a barbecue at a friend's apartment, and as I placed my six pack of Weihenstephaner in the cooler, I noticed several unlabeled bottles. And in his apartment I spotted several one-gallon glass jugs containing sludgy brown liquid.

Normally I'm skeptical of homemade items, especially when it comes to ingesting them. And I had arrived with one of my most favorite beers in hand, so really, I was set. But in the spirit of adventure and, wanting to make a good impression on Alex, my host and new friend, I acquiesced and tried one.

And another one. And then another one. And so on. Damn if Alex wasn't coming correct. A porter, a stout and a red ale that were uniformly excellent. Not excellent for homebrewed beer, but excellent beer, period.

Back home, I said to myself, "Self--you're pretty handy, good at following directions, you like to experiment like a mad scientist--perhaps we should try our hand at this." And Self replied, "You're right, and I remember that summer in Berkeley where we had a different do-it-yourself operation up in the attic that produced legendary results, so we've got aptitude--let's get cracking!"

Now, I was going to have to rely on Alex for know-how, because I wanted to shorten the learning curve as much as possible. But then I stumbled upon Erica & Stephen of the Brooklyn Brew Shop while reading Time Out New York. They're so new to the game they operate out of their apartment and the Brooklyn and DUMBO flea markets on the weekends--but it seems they're the only game in town so I had to check them out.

I eventually made it to the Brooklyn flea two weekends ago. People were gathered around their booth asking questions, chatting excitedly, exchanging beer preferences. I liked the vibe immediately. Erica helped us, and answered important questions from me like "Can any idiot do this?" She assured me that yes, if you can make oatmeal, you can make beer.

So, my wife and I purchased a one-gallon kit, which came with a one-gallon glass jug (which is thick-walled and strong--I know because I managed to knock one off the table onto the asphalt and it didn't break!), Brooklyn Brew Shop's own grain blend for making a grapefruit honey ale, the required hops and yeast, a thermometer, a rubber stopper plastic tubing and accompanying doodads--all for the low, low price of 30 bucks. We also picked up the grain/hops/yeast package for their maple oatmeal porter for 10 bucks. They do sell a five gallon kit, but I reckon I'm a long way away from needing that.

Erica had informed us that she was a second-generation brewer, as she had learned the ropes from her dad. This made me feel assured--not that I thought she and Stephen were a fly-by-night operation that had brewed a few gallons and decided to fleece people during this Brooklyn Beer Boom-- not at all, but I felt good knowing that two generations of brewing will have yielded a great deal of experience, nuance, and--most important--an ability to pass on beer making knowledge.

Which brings me to last night. I decided to go for it, starting with the grapefruit and honey ale, since Alex had advised me that making an ale is simpler than making a porter.

While it wasn't rocket science, it was a bit more complicated than mere oatmeal making. Then again, Erica was probably referring to making actual oatmeal, not Quaker Oats instant oatmeal, which is what my lazy ass immediately thought of.

I won't bore you by recounting all the steps, but after some spilling, some burned digits, some heavenly aromas and a lot of sanitizing to make sure I didn't murder the yeast with dangerous, ever-present germs, I've got (most of) a gallon of brown sludge fermenting away, waiting to be bottled and further fermented in a couple weeks.

I encourage all potential homebrewers to check out their site, even if you're not in Brooklyn, for I'm pretty sure they can ship their stuff to you.

Now for the hard part--emptying some bottles so I have something to put it in!

*Some might call the Pacific Northwest beertopia, but that region's hyper-hoppy brews just really aren't my preference anymore.